ObamaCare: The damage has already begun

NY Post "Repeal of ObamaCare can't come soon enough -- as several damaging provisions are set to take effect this year.
"For starters, it has effectively stopped the construction of physician-owned hospitals throughout the country.
"Section 6001 of the health-care law required physician-owned hospitals to obtain their Medicare certification by the end of last year. Without it, they can't treat Medicare patients. And the facilities needed to be open to get that certification.
"So construction halted at 45 hospitals as the New Year arrived. Work on countless others will never start, having been effectively banned by ObamaCare. This will limit competition in the health-care marketplace, driving up costs for patients."

The War Against Palin Goes On and On and …

Victor Davis Hanson "Is the problem with Palin that she uses inflammatory language far too loosely given her position of responsibility? Of course, evocation of “enemies, punishing, kicking ass, relegation to backseat, knives, guns, getting angry, getting in their face, hostage takers, trigger fingers, and tearing up” does not suit a national public figure and former vice presidential candidate. Oops, those allusions were Barack Obama’s, not Sarah Palin’s."....

"Someone like a President Palin could really blow it with a hickish bow to a Saudi Arabian autocrat or a rambling apology about American sins in Turkey of all places, or nominate some nut who would have a Truther past or resort to racism or a yokel who would brag about her hero Mao."

You mean like this?

Come On, Kathleen

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE  "Obamacare’s advocates want you to believe that, without their 2,300-page, trillion-dollar extravagance, half of America would lose their health insurance. The reality is that preexisting conditions is a problem affecting a minute fraction of Americans, a problem that could be solved with a simple, one-page bill.

"If Republicans repeal Obamacare and replace it with a straightforward law that equalized the tax treatment of employer-sponsored and individually-purchased health insurance, they will have done more for real health-care reform, and for people with real preexisting conditions, than the last forty Congresses put together. Let’s hope they get their chance." Avik Roy is an equity research analyst ...in New York City. He blogs on health-care issues at The Apothecary.

Hu dat?

 How to Combat an Arrogant China?  "Surely the J-20 flight was a snub to Washington. Surely China’s whole military buildup is aimed directly at us. And surely China is of no particular help when it comes to the nuclear operations of North Korea and Iran." Larry Kudlow.
Lisa Benson, Townhall 

Kelley: http://www.worldmag.com/editorialcartoons/




The Tab Comes Due in 2011

Victor Davis Hanson "But harsh realities have intervened. While the Obama administration was making it far harder to develop oil and gas on government-owned Western lands, and hampering offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, the world economy was recovering — and with it, energy demands were increasing. As oil now approaches $100 a barrel, gas is already over $3 a gallon and headed still higher. It may have been two years since the beleaguered motoring public embraced the chant "drill, baby, drill," but when voters begin paying nearly $4 a gallon in 2011, they will want far more oil production and far fewer pie-in-the-sky green speeches."

A False Truce in Obama’s War on Business

Heritage  "The 2,319-page financial regulation bill requires 243 new formal rule-makings by 11 different federal agencies. The 2,700-page Obamacare bill contains more than 1,000 instances where Congress instructed ... (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to regulate the health care industry. And, in the ultimate example of power-hungry federal regulators providing “solutions” where no problem currently exists, for the first time in the history of the Internet, the federal government will begin to regulate service providers with “net neutrality” regulations."

Obama's Wall Street Journal column  "Over the past two years, the goal of my administration has been to strike the right balance. And today, I am signing an executive order that makes clear that this is the operating principle of our government.
"This order requires that federal agencies ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth. And it orders a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive. It's a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties and the influence of special interests in Washington over decades."

Newsflash: President Obama has discovered that government mandates hurt job creation.

Boehner Takes Control With ObamaCare Repeal "The multitude of new government regulations in ObamaCare has already put many small business in financial straits, preventing them from creating new jobs. The law mandates that every small business owner file a 1099 tax form for a transaction over $600. The tax credits to offset this regulation were so far under the actual cost that small businesses have suffered and the economy stagnated."

Government Bureaucracies Created by Obama Care "WHERE is the money to pay for all of these agencies which will massively increase the size of government? These are just the ones created by Obamacare. There are also Cap and Trade, The Farm Bill, The Gift Act and SO much more coming from this President and this Congress. We must stop them all, for the life of our Republic."

Commission to Recommend Lifting Ban on Women in Combat

GlobalSecurity.org  "The nonpartisan Military Leadership Diversity Commission will make 20 recommendations to President Barack Obama and Congress to increase diversity and inclusiveness and develop “a demographically diverse leadership that reflects the forces it leads and the public it services,” according to a pre-decisional draft document posted on the commission’s website."

Debunking the Israeli 'women in combat' myth ""For example, it is a common misperception that Israel allows women in combat units. In fact, women have been barred from combat in Israel since 1950, when a review of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War showed how harmful their presence could be. The study revealed that men tried to protect and assist women rather than continue their attack. As a result, they not only put their own lives in greater danger, but also jeopardized the survival of the entire unit. The study further revealed that unit morale was damaged when men saw women killed and maimed on the battlefield," Luddy said."